The Dance of Familiarity
by misspatchesmom
Summary: Tony and Ziva navigate their first three to four months together with Tali in Paris; set in the fall of 2016 as part of the "You Complete Me" universe. Immediately follows "A Summer of Discovery" and "Ziva's Journey."
1. The First Twenty-Four Hours

The Dance of Familiarity

_Tony and Ziva's first three months together in Paris Fall 2016_

Chapter 1 – The First Twenty-Four Hours

"Abba; Ima! Squishy me," Tali squirmed between her parents; the very same parents who were locked in a kiss after not seeing each other for three years. "YOU. SQUISHEDED. ME!" the two year old tried to get free of her mother's and father's arms.

Both Tony and Ziva realized at the same time that the little girl was between them as they broke for air. "Sorry, yaldati," they said together; both then broke out in a laugh. Ziva locked gazes with the emerald green pools she feared she'd never see again. Tony stared into those chocolate orbs that mesmerized him from the beginning.

"Down, please!" Tali squirmed again and both parents gently lowered their daughter to the floor. "Pancakes, Abba. Tali getting pancakes." She ran off towards his bedroom where the plate of pancakes had been abandoned.

Tony cupped Ziva's face with his hands, "Ziva… I…" He fused his lips on hers again; he could not get enough of the taste of her on his lips once again. The pair broke for air again at the sound of a plate crashing to the floor.

"Want some pancakes? They're probably cold, but I can make more or we can reheat the ones I made earlier," he offered as she followed him in the direction of the crash. Tali was sitting on the kitchen floor, a pancake in each hand, and also several on the floor.

"Uh-oh, Abba," she grinned at him and put more of the pancakes from the floor onto the plate.

"It's okay, Tali, we can make more pancakes," he bent to help her remove the spilled food from the floor.

"More pancakes? Ima pancakes?" the toddler looked at her mother and then at her father.

Tony grinned, "Yes, baby, we will ALL have pancakes for breakfast. Sound like a plan, your highness?"

"Ken, Abba." Ziva watched the two interacting and smiled. Even to a casual observer, it was obvious that the little girl adored her Abba and he in turn adored her. She had to wonder what if they'd had all of the little one's lifetime together, instead of just the past four months. _ . ._ She tried to shut the voices down before her inner doubts ruined the moment for her.

"Zi? Earth to Ziva," Tony called to the woman that he at one time thought he might never see again. She startled slightly and he lightly touched her arm. "Sorry," he spoke softly, "You seemed a million miles away."

"I…" she put her hand on his and smiled slightly. He shook his head.

"We'll talk later," he flipped his hand to interlock their fingers. "I just asked if you wanted some pancakes."

"That sounds delicious," she turned to her daughter. "Do you recommend the pancakes? Are they good?" she had a twinkle in her eye; to Tony she almost looked like the old Ziva… almost…

"Abba make good pancakes, Ima. Yummy!" Tali rubbed her hand on her belly dramatically and licked her lips. Ziva laughed out loud at the toddler's antics; ALL her Abba's moves.

"Pancakes for everyone then!" Tony mixed more batter in the bowl and reheated the pan. He dropped spoonsful of the mix onto the hot surface and sprinkled mini chocolate chips over the top of each one. Ziva watched as he expertly flipped each of the two-inch diameter pancakes when they were golden brown on the cooked side.

"You are good at this," she observed.

He nodded, "Mini-Ninja loves pancakes; repetition builds skill." He flipped a stack of three pancakes to a plate and handed it to Ziva. "For Tali; she likes them plain. No syrup, no butter. Cut them in quarters and she'll pick up the pieces with her fingers."

He then stacked another four pancakes on a second plate and handed that one to Ziva, "For you, my lady." He made an exaggerated bow, which sent Tali into a giggle fit. The last four pancakes went onto a third plate for himself. "Syrup's in the pantry and there's fresh butter in the fridge." He grabbed two forks from the utensil drawer and handed one to Ziva.

The three ate breakfast mostly in silence; Tony watched Ziva as she picked at the food on her plate. She looked as though she'd not had a real meal in months. He speared a piece of pancake from his plate and held the fork out near her mouth. She looked up at him; the man was grinning like a fool, but she could see pure, open, honest love in his eyes. No pity, no anger, no bitterness; just love. _Love you do not deserve._ She pushed the inner demons back; not today, she would not let them control her thoughts on what should be the happiest day in recent memory.

She took the bite of pancake into her mouth from his fork and smiled at the man who had her heart. What she had done to deserve him, she did not know. The father of her, no their, child; the one whose mere presence made her insides do that flip-floppy thing; made her heartbeat quicken. His proximity made her happy; made her feel whole. _You do not deserve his love._ She closed her eyes and willed the inner voices to be quiet.

"You okay?" he put his hand over hers, speaking quietly, searching her face for clues. He could sense conflict within her; had he said or done something to hurt her or cause her to doubt his love for her?

She opened her eyes, meeting his gaze, "I will be okay." He held out another bite of pancake for her and she took it from his fork. "You do not need to feed me, Tony."

"I want to," he spoke from the heart. "I love you, Ziva." He tried to put everything he felt for this woman, the mother of his, no their, child; the woman who had taken his heart so long ago. "I will always love you…"

Ziva swallowed the pancake bite that was in her mouth. She looked into the emerald green eyes that reflected so much love at her. She fought back the panic that started to rise within her and poured out her heart before the inner voices could shut her down, "Tony, I… I love you and I have loved you for a very long time."

He was about to lock lips with her when Tali broke the moment, "More pancakes, pweese, Abba!" She held her empty plate in his direction.

"Coming right up," he took her plate and put the three pancakes from his own plate on hers. He quickly quartered them and handed the plate back to his daughter.

She grinned, "Toda, Abba! Yummy!" No sooner did the plate touch the table than the little girl had pieces of pancake in both hands. She ate most of the pancakes from Tony's plate while her parents shared the four that were on Ziva's plate.

As Tony cleaned up from breakfast, washing dishes, bowls, and the pan, Tali pulled Ziva into the living room to the shelf of her books and movies. Tony came into the living room, just watching his two girls from the doorway. Ziva was on the floor with their daughter; Tali was sitting in her Ima's lap and the two were reading a Curious George book.

Tony looked carefully at Ziva; she was not the same Ziva he'd left on that tarmac. She had a world-weary look about her. He glanced over by the door for her luggage. All he saw was a large backpack; she always had been able to travel light.

"Um, do you want to take a shower or?" he shrugged at her, trying to be helpful, but choosing his words carefully. "Is that your luggage?" he nodded in the direction of the backpack.

"Yes, it holds what I needed. And, yes, I will take that shower, please," Ziva read the last page to her baby and stood up.

"This way," he led her towards the bathroom, grabbing her backpack from by the door. "Um, do, you, um, need, um, clothes?"

"I do not think your clothes would fit me, Tony," she smirked. "I have a change of underwear, one of your OSU shirts and a second pair of pants in my pack."

"Is that all you have?"

She nodded, "I had to travel light for so long. I have a third change of underwear and socks, plus a jacket."

He stopped her as she started into the bathroom, "We WILL go get you more clothing, Ziva, in the next day or so. Do you need anything else? Medical care? Shoes? I'll make sure you get what you need, Sweetcheeks." He brushed a light kiss on her cheek; she turned to face him and brushed her lips on his.

"Toda; we will talk more when I get the grime of the world off my body," she started to close the bathroom door to take her shower.

"NO! IMA! No go!" Tali grabbed her mother's leg. "NO!"

"Tali, let Ima take a shower. She'll be right back out when she's done," Tony tried to pry Tali from Ziva's leg.

"NO,NO, NO! Ima no go!" Tali's bottom lip started quivering; a sign that full-on melt-down was imminent.

"Leave the door open," Ziva suggested. "It is not like you have not seen me without clothes…" She started undressing and moving into the bathroom. Tony sat outside the door, leaning on the doorframe. Tali slowly let go of her Ima's leg when she realized that her mother was headed to the tub.

"Oh, bath!" the toddler seemed satisfied when Ziva ran the water so she sat down beside her Abba.

Tony smiled at Ziva, "Guess you are going to have an audience for your shower." He tried not to stare; motherhood had softened the curves of her body. She was as beautiful as ever; probably even more so. He could feel his own body reacting to the sight of her. He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face; not ready to go down _that_ road quite yet…

After Ziva dressed in her change of clothes, Tony took the other items of her clothing and put them with his own clothes to be laundered. He suggested that the three of them head out to the superstore he and Tali frequented to get more food, some clothing items for Ziva, and whatever other things she needed. Once at the store, he encouraged her to pick out enough clothes for a week's worth of outfits, plus some extra pieces. He discouraged her from buying what he called 'practical, utilitarian' clothes; no cargo pants; get the red lacy underwear instead of the white cotton… At first, Ziva protested; he reminded her that they could well afford for her to purchase whatever she wanted.

"Besides," he whispered in her ear as the two were looking through a rack of dressier pants and jeans, "I want to show off my beautiful Ninja to the world. I want those other men to turn their heads to see the woman on MY arm!" He softly kissed her neck and put his arms around her. "I love you, Zi."

After checking out, Tony arranged to have their purchases delivered. The three then went to the café that Tony and Ziva had eaten at the last time they were in Paris for lunch. On the walk back to the flat, Tali nodded off in her stroller. They put the little girl in her bed with Kelev and then carried the bags of clothing and groceries in to the various rooms in the flat.

As Ziva removed tags from her new clothing, Tony pushed his shirts and other clothing to one side of the closet in the larger bedroom. "That's about half of the closet for you, Sweetcheeks," he showed her the space he'd cleared for her. He then carried the laundry basket to the washer and dryer and started a load of washing. He then followed Ziva to the living room. She sat on the sofa and patted the cushion next to her, motioning for him to sit.

"Tony, I… want to reassure you," she started. This conversation was not going to be easy, but she also knew it needed to be said. "I am done running; if you will have me, I plan to stay with you and Tali…"

He took her hands in his, locking his eyes with hers, "Ziva, you are a part of this family. You, me, Tali; we are a family; we are finally whole. Of course I want you to stay! I wouldn't choose any other way…" He put a hand on the side of her face and drew her to him. "Ziva, I love you." He wiped a tear from her cheek and gently kissed her.

"Toda; I love you as well. Will you hold me? I have missed the comfort of your arms around me so much," she snuggled into his embrace. The pair just sat on the couch holding on to each other, reveling in the touch that had been so missed.

"I used to cuddle with Tali when she was a baby; we would sit for hours in the rocking chair in the living room of the farmhouse and I would tell her about you," Ziva told him. "I told her about how nice it was to cuddle with you and to wake up in your arms. When she went through a colicky phase, telling her stories about you was the only thing that calmed her many times."

Tony chuckled, "I think that's a compliment… What was she like as a baby?"

"Always alert; always watching everything. She liked to watch the Disney movies on the TV from an early age. She babbled constantly; I guess she got that from you," Ziva gently poked his ribs.

"She is amazing, Ziva. Part you and part me; I never knew so much love could be packed into someone so small. We made an awesome kid."

"We did," Ziva nodded against his chest.

"ABBA!" said awesome kid called from the bathroom. "Come wipe; all done." Tony shifted and stood; Ziva followed him down the small hallway.

He helped Tali wipe and flush, "Good girl, Tals." He high-fived with the toddler.

"Ima, Tali is big girl; go poo and pee in potty," Tali held up her hand to her mother for a high-five.

Ziva touched her hand to the little girl's, and turned to Tony, "You are such a good father to her. In four months, you have her potty trained; speaking hundreds more words, and doing quite well with feeding herself." She put her hand on his arm as she spoke, "I am sorry that you missed her first two years."

"Can't undo the past, Ziva," he replied. "But I accept your apology."

"HUNGEE, ABBA! Ani raev!"

"Atah raev; do we need to feed the hungry tummy?" he tickled her lightly and she giggled and nodded. "Then let's go get a snack for everyone."

"Ima snack?" Tali tugged her mother's hand in the direction of the kitchen.

As Tony sliced an apple into toddler-sized pieces, Tali climbed into her booster seat. "Sit, Ima. Snack time. Get snack if you sit nice." She grinned at her parents.

After the snack, all three watched _Cars_. Tali sat between her parents to start, then draped across their laps. She sat in Ziva's lap for a bit, then in her father's lap, and finally back between them with a hand resting on each of their legs as if to anchor herself to her Ima and Abba.

Ziva made dinner with some of the groceries they'd purchased earlier in the day. After dinner, the three read story books until Tali's bedtime. Once the little girl was tucked under her covers, she looked at her parents expectantly.

"Yes, princess?" Tony bent to kiss her curls.

"Numi, numi, pweese?" she asked. "Ima and Abba sing." She pointed to Ziva and then to Tony. "Pweese?" Both nodded and together they sang their baby's favorite lullaby. Ziva gently rubbed her daughter's back as they sang and by the end of the lullaby, the toddler was asleep with Kelev clutched in her arms.

In the living room, both parents put books and toys back on the shelf for the night. Tony turned to Ziva, "She's down for the night, I hope. I usually watch a movie and then go to bed."

"A movie is fine. You choose." Ziva sat on the sofa; she was starting to feel the lack of sleep from the past four months as well as the energy drain from constant motion with the two year old. Tony used the remote to find a movie on one of the TV channels; he sat next to Ziva on the sofa and leaned back. She curled into his side and he wrapped an arm around her.

Very little was said between them in words. Tony absently fingered Ziva's curls; her hair was much shorter than he remembered. Ziva sighed against the warmth of his chest; she'd missed just cuddling with him so much. Both knew that a conversation about the tough things was hanging like an elephant in the room, but they would save it for another day.

She fell asleep against her favorite pillow about two-thirds of the way through the film; he didn't bother to wake her until the final credits rolled. He wondered when the last time she'd had a night's sleep had been as he tightened his arm around her ever so slightly.

"Ziva, come on," he gently woke her. "Let's go to bed."

She stretched and followed him to the bedroom. He motioned for her to use the bathroom first. While she was in the bathroom, he started gathering a pillow, sheet, and blanket so that he could sleep on the couch and let her have the bed.

She came out of the bathroom and he took his turn. Ziva took the pillow, blanket, and sheet in her arms as he came out.

"Going somewhere with my bedding?" he startled her from her thoughts.

"I was going to sleep on the sofa," she replied.

"No, you sleep in here; I will sleep on the couch," he responded and tugged at the bedding in her arms.

"But this is your bed…"

"I insist…"

They locked gazes; suddenly Tony started chuckling. Ziva giggled as his laugh was infectious.

"Ziva, this is ridiculous; we don't need to argue over who is sleeping where."

"I agree; it is not like we have not shared a bed before."

"Um, yeah, and we have a kid…" he gestured in the direction of Tali's room. "We BOTH sleep here; end of discussion." He put the pillow back as he sat on the bed and patted the mattress next to him.

She sat down beside him and spoke softly, "I would like that." She moved to lay down by his side. He sighed as she rested her head on his chest, over his heart. He wrapped his arm over her loosely.

"Good night, Ziva." He placed a kiss on her head.

"Good night, Tony." She raised her head and brushed her lips on his.


	2. Days Two and Three

Chapter 2 – Days Two and Three

Tony was aware of another body spooned into his; his arm was draped protectively over a distinctly female-shaped hip. He moved slightly and her curls tickled his face; Ziva! She moved slightly, pressing back against him and sighing. His body reacted to hers against his.

"I could get used to this," she murmured wiggling her hips against his. "I have missed you; all of you…"

He nuzzled into her neck, planting light kisses and making full body contact. "My 'knee' is happy to see you," he whispered.

She turned in his arms and was about to drape her leg over his hips when both felt a weight on their feet.

"IMA! ABBA!" Tali jumped across the bed, landing between her parents. "Ani raev, Abba. Tali hungee, Ima." Tony closed his eyes pretending to be asleep. Tali pushed up one of his eyelids with her fingers, nearly poking his eye. "Wake up, Abba!"

Ziva suppressed a laugh, "Let us go make breakfast, yaldati and then we can wake up Abba." She sat up and scooped the toddler into her arms. "Boker tov," she hugged her little girl and put soft kisses on her forehead. Mother and daughter padded out of the bedroom; Ziva looked back as she walked out of the door.

"Thank you," Tony said softly. "I will be there very soon." He wiped a hand over his face and stared at the ceiling; was it a good thing Tali had interrupted him and Ziva earlier? They still had a lot to discuss, both about the past and the present. Future plans would follow.

Ziva made scrambled eggs and toast for all three of them, and started the coffee maker. She poured orange juice for all three, and milk for Tali. "Go wake up Abba for breakfast, yaldati," she told her little girl. Tali grinned and ran towards the bedroom.

"ABBA; ABBA! Wake up; get breakfast, Abba," she patted her father's face with her hand. He turned towards his baby.

"Did Ima cook breakfast?" he smiled at Tali and tickled her sides. "Do we need to feed the tickle monster?"

"Ken, Abba," she shrieked with giggles. "Hungee; Ima make eggs."

Tony stood up and his stomach growled, "Ani raev." He patted his abdomen as Tali laughed and patted his stomach also. Father and daughter raced to the kitchen where Ziva had placed filled plates on the table for each of them. "Boker tov," he grinned at the mother of his child; god she was beautiful, even with bed head.

Ziva grinned back at him and wiggled her fingers over her head, "Porcu-swine!" She ran her hand over his hair as he scooped Tali up and placed her in her booster seat. Once the toddler was sitting, he leaned towards Ziva and brushed his lips on hers.

"Can I have you for breakfast?" he teased; he kissed her again before holding out her chair for her.

"Toda. You may, but if your stomach growls, it is your own fault," she sassed him back with a smirk. "Better to eat your eggs and toast before they get cold."

After breakfast, the family dressed for the day and decided to go to the nearby park that Tali loved. The weather was slightly warm for September, but sunny. A great day to play in the park. Tali ran to the swings and Tony helped her sit on the seat.

"Higher, Abba; make me fly to the sky!" she laughed as her father pushed her swing.

Ziva sat on the swing next to her daughter and moved her arms and legs to get the swing moving. She leaned back and looked at the sky; free as an eagle, like she wanted to be so many years ago as a child. She laughed in delight at the carefree feeling that came over her. She could get used to this feeling of being a family, of having no one chasing her, of being free.

Tony caught Ziva from behind and pulled her to him, nuzzling into her neck. "You're in a good mood," he observed. "I like this version of you."

"I am just enjoying the freedom," she turned and placed her lips on his. "And the company…"

"Abba, go see pictures with Ima?" Tali tugged on her father's jacket to get his attention.

"She likes the art museums; go figure," he explained to Ziva. "We can walk to the nearest one." Tali climbed into her stroller and leaned back. He started walking in the direction of one of their favorite rainy day activities. One hand was guiding the stroller; he slipped his other hand around Ziva's, interlacing their fingers. It felt so natural and so right.

Ziva smiled to herself; this felt so right, so good. It was all that she'd hoped and dreamed about while fighting to get the threats eliminated. No one could take this from her now, not even those inner demons who told her she did not deserve this.

The family spent about two hours at the museum and then stopped at a family-friendly café for lunch. Tali fell asleep in her stroller on the way back to the flat. Her parents walked side by side with hands interlocked, chatting about the weather, Tali's reactions to things they saw at the museum, her growing vocabulary, and side-stepping the deeper conversation.

Once inside, Tony tucked the little girl into her bed for her nap with Ziva beside him. He looked up over his sleeping baby to see Ziva wiping at her eyes. He smiled at her and she smiled back. "She's beautiful, Zi," he whispered.

"And so angelic when she is asleep," she quipped in a soft voice. The parents quietly left the room and pulled the door to; they went to the living room together. Ziva sat on the sofa and patted the place next to her. Tony sat beside her, and took her hands in his.

"Ziva, I want you to know that I'm not angry," he began.

"You have every right to be angry with me," she replied.

He sighed, "I let go of the anger early on; it wasn't healthy for me or for Tali. I still don't understand why you couldn't tell me about her…"

"Remember that my head was not in a good place in 2013 when I insisted that you leave," she looked in his eyes, seeing only love. "I justified it in my mind by telling myself that I had already caused you enough pain."

"I would have been there in a heartbeat if I'd known." He pulled her hand to his lips and softly kissed her knuckles. "You have to know that…"

She blinked rapidly, trying to keep the tears at bay, "I KNOW, and I just was not ready… I had already sent you away…" His thumb wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes as she placed her hands on his face. "It was the worst decision of my life…" He moved closer and leaned his forehead on hers.

"I told you that I was fighting for you," he whispered.

"I know…" she brushed her lips on his. "I love you for that, and a million other things." He deepened the kiss and both fell into the other's arms.

"She usually naps for about two hours," he informed her between kisses.

"Not today," Ziva nodded in the direction of the hallway. He looked around to see Tali with Kelev, rubbing her eyes.

"Ima, ani tzameh," the child whined slightly. "Thirsty." Ziva got up to get a cup of milk for the little girl while Tony flipped on the TV and found a cartoon channel for kids. The three watched TV for several hours; both Tali and Ziva dozed off for a bit. Tony had his arms around both of them.

After dinner, they read story books until Tali's bath time. After the bath, Ziva tucked her into her bed and she and Tony took turns reading one more story book. Tali had Kelev clutched in her arms; she was out like a light before the end of the story.

Tony chose a movie from his DVD collection and started it playing; he and Ziva cuddled on the sofa to watch the movie together. Neither one said any more about the hanging conversation, preferring to speak without words. At the end of the movie, they moved to the bedroom.

Tony watched Ziva undress; she had on the red lacy underwear set he'd insisted that she add to the cart the day before. He was in just his boxers as he slid next to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Looks good on you, Sweetcheeks," he fingered the strap on her bra. "I like…"

She turned to face him, "I can tell." She pressed her hips into him, feeling his body react. "You may take it off if you want…" He slowly unhooked the back and slid the straps down her arms. His hands cupped her breasts.

"Motherhood has filled you out some, and rounded you in all the right places," he nodded appreciatively. "Very sexy, my Ninja." He kissed her neck and started downward, teasing at the waist of her panties with his fingers. She ran a finger under the elastic waistband of his boxers.

In a Ninja-like move, she had him on his back on the bed, straddling his hips. He moaned slightly as she pressed against him and then leaned to kiss him. "That is definitely not your knee," she breathed into the kisses.

"Yep it's not," he tugged at her panties as she pulled his boxers down his legs. "Oh, Zi, how I've missed you…" he murmured as their bodies joined and they made love for the first time in three years.

Sated, the couple fell asleep wrapped together.

They awoke at 0530 in a tangle of limbs. They shared kisses and heat; Tony moved over Ziva and kissed her body from neck down. He teased her and pleased her; sending her over the edge completely before slowing entering her.

They were lying on their sides, tangled together, coming down, when they heard footsteps in the hallway and the door was pushed open.

"Ima, Abba!" Tali climbed on the bed between her parents. Tony pulled her into a hug; as Ziva placed soft kisses on her baby's curls.

"Boker tov, yaldati," Tony gently tickled Tali's belly bringing on a fit of giggles.

"Good morning," Ziva snuggled into her daughter's neck, breathing in her baby scent.

"I hungee, Ima! Want pancakes, Abba." Tali wrapped an arm around each of her parents.

Ziva grabbed her robe and slid into it under the covers. She sat up and found Tony's sleep pants, tossing them on to his side of the bed. He shimmied into the pants under the covers and then the three headed out to the kitchen to make pancakes.

Thus began the daily routine for the family; breakfast, an outing or shopping; lunch out; nap for Tali back at the flat; kids' movie, TV or playtime; dinner; bedtime for Tali; movie or TV for the adults,; and bedtime for the grown-ups with adult pleasures before sleeping.

The only thing left to address was the difficult conversation; something both Tony and Ziva knew had to happen, but were both procrastinating. Except for that small annoyance, it was almost as though they'd never been apart.


	3. Survived the First Week

Chapter 3 – Survived the First Week

"It has been a week already," Ziva ran her fingers through Tony's chest hair as the couple snuggled after making love. "In some ways, it feels as though we were never apart, yet in others, it feels as though we have a huge gap in our lives."

"Well, three years IS huge in Tali-years. I mean, it's her whole lifetime so far," Tony sighed, louder than he intended. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

She put her finger on his lips, "Do not apologize; I know that you missed too much of her life so far. That is entirely my fault." She swallowed hard to keep the tears at bay. She hated thinking about the mistakes she'd made over the past three years, but she would take full responsibility for her decisions. Right, wrong, indifferent; she'd made choices and those choices had consequences.

She continued, "I missed four months; you missed most of the first two years, plus the pregnancy. If I have to, I will spend my entire life making that up to you and to her. I was weak; I should have told you. I should have let you be the one who chose if you would be there with me or not."

Tony turned to face his partner, "Ziva, you have to stop beating yourself up over past mistakes. We both know what that guilt did to you before. If you need to talk to someone, a professional mental health person, I will support you one hundred percent.

"As for missing out on Tali's early years, and the pregnancy, it's water under the bridge. We can't change the past; but we can move forward from it. Yes, I was angry at first; yes, I wanted to be angry at you and the choices you took from me, but Ziva," he paused to wipe a tear from her eye, "I realized pretty soon after Tali came to me that holding on to that anger would hurt me. More importantly, I realized that if I held on to any anger at you, it would be the worst thing I could do for my daughter, OUR daughter.

"And you KNOW in your heart that I would have been there in an instant had I known; you are so much more important than any job, Ziva. You are my life; you and Tali. I've told you before, I can't live without you. Tried it, couldn't do it…" he choked back a sob.

Ziva brushed her hand on his cheek, wiping the tears that formed in his eyes. "Part of me keeps waiting for the angry outburst; I deserve it in many ways…"

"STOP! Ziva, stop thinking that way. You deserve to be loved, to love, to have your something permanent. You always have, even back in 2013 when your mind had this warped sense of penance ruling your decisions," he spoke sharper than he'd intended, but damn it, she had to understand that she deserved good things.

Ziva was quiet, mulling over his words. She locked her eyes on his; she saw love reflected back at her, so much love it almost overwhelmed her. How in the world had she ever deserved such a man? She sniffled and wiped at her eyes, and was about to speak when a little voice called out to them.

"Ima! Abba! Bad dream," Tali was standing in their bedroom doorway with Kelev clutched to her chest. "Scary bad dream." Her bottom lip quivered and tears started falling.

Tony sat up, "Come here, baby; Abba will hug the bad dream away." He opened his arms as the little girl climbed onto the bed and crawled towards her parents. She snuggled into his embrace and leaned her head on his chest, her ear over his heart. He placed kisses on her curls as Ziva held her baby's hand.

"Shh, yaldati, Ima and Abba will make it better," she whispered softly as Tony's hand stroked Tali's back. He moved his other arm around Ziva so that he was holding both of his girls.

Tali looked at her mother, "Ima; NO GO AWAY. Ima STAY with Tali and Abba." She pointed at her mother accusingly. All week, the toddler had protested when her mother was out of sight; she'd gotten better about allowing Ziva to use the bathroom. When her mother had stepped out of the flat to put a bag of trash down the garbage chute, Tali had gone into full melt-down on the living room floor.

Ziva's tears started fresh; even her baby was angry with her. She had caused so much pain to the ones she loved the most. Tony tilted Ziva's chin upward so that he could lock his eyes with hers. Silently, he communicated with her that she was not to blame; he didn't want her spiraling into the guilt issues again.

"Zi, please…" he pleaded.

She nodded slowly; they still needed to talk about this some more, but now was not the time. Tali was their current priority. Ziva glanced at the little girl; she was almost back to sleep on her Abba's chest. That she could understand; she herself had taken much comfort from Tony's warmth and steady heartbeat. She saw him grin at her.

"Like mother, like daughter," he whispered. "I love it!" He pulled Ziva in closer to his side and kissed her forehead. She lifted her face to his and brushed her lips on his cheek. He turned his head and locked lips with her, pouring as much love as he could into that kiss; she had to know how much he loved her.

Soon, both Tali and Ziva were snoring softly against their favorite pillow; Tony listened to the sweetest sounds he could ever wish to hear. He knew that they would have to address Tali's separation anxiety and Ziva's possible depression or anxiety if there was to be any possible progress with either one. Hell, he himself could probably benefit from professional help as well. He wanted his family whole and happy; was that too much to ask?

His mind swirled with all sorts of possibilities and questions. His weekly Skype call with Tim had been postponed due to a difficult case for the MCRT; Tim had sent a text apologizing for missing the call. Tony had been sad, but also relieved; that bought him one more week before he would have to deal with what he did nor did not tell his brother of the heart about Ziva's return.

Around 0400, the thought that the old Tony would have run from this situation popped into his head randomly. He was glad that he'd grown beyond the player image and that he no longer felt a need to avoid emotional issues. Granted, they still were not easy to face, but he had made a lot of progress, much of it due to the woman asleep at his side. He knew one thing for certain; he loved her with every fiber of his being and he would move the Earth itself to keep her by his side. He gazed at the head of the little girl sleeping, and drooling on his chest; he never knew that he could feel so much unconditional love until she came into his life. Heaven help anyone who tried to harm his baby; he would defend her with his life.

"Ani ohev otcha, Ziva. Ani ohev otcha, Tali. You two are my world, forever," he spoke softly so he didn't wake them; placing tender kisses on each one's head. He finally dozed off around 0500.

Ziva stirred around 0530; Tony was snoring softly as was Tali. Her two loves; the two people in the world she would lay her life on the line to defend, even to the death. She listened to their breathing and snoring; no other sound in the world could be so sweet in the wee hours of the morning.

She reflected on the past week; Tali had been reluctant to let her mother out of her sight. After the first two or three days, she'd been okay with Ziva closing the bathroom door. After a melt-down in the living room when Ziva took the bag of garbage from the kitchen to the trash chute, the three had pretty much done all exits from the flat together. She'd researched separation anxiety on the laptop computer when Tali was napping. Perhaps they needed to speak with a family counselor.

_Be honest with yourself, Ziva_. She knew the demons in her head were not completely gone; she had been dealing with what her ob/gyn had called mild depression and anxiety since before Tali's birth. She had opted to avoid medications especially when pregnant and nursing, not knowing what effects there might be to her child. Perhaps she could also benefit from speaking with a professional. How she hated to be asking for help, but all the years with Tony had taught her that it was okay to need help sometimes. One of the many reasons she loved him so much was his genuine caring and openness when she needed him to be her rock, her support system.

She wondered how much, if any, contact Tony had with the other NCIS people in DC. Surely he and Tim McGee talked or texted some; they were almost like brothers in many aspects. How much did the others know about Tony's search for her or the clues she'd left for him?

She also needed to tell him her story, her journey over the past three years and especially the past four months; she needed him to understand her reasons for her choices. They still had a lot to discuss and address, but they were beginning to heal and become a family. Her family… She smiled at the thought of her two loves being within arm's reach. Her something permanent was right there in front of her; it was time to seize the happiness and build a real life. It was time for Ziva David to stop running from life, and more importantly, from herself.


	4. Week Two

Chapter 4 – Week Two

The family entered the second week with an appointment with a family therapist who specialized in pediatric psychology. After another melt-down from Tali when Tony stepped out to check the mail, both parents had agreed that they needed to get some advice and assistance for all of them.

On the day of the appointment, they left early so that they could fill out required forms and questionnaires for the clinic where the doctor practiced. Tali played quietly with some books and Kelev while her parents looked over the forms. The first form was fairly straightforward, asking about names, dates of birth, residence, and other statistical information. Ziva watched as Tony wrote in Tali's birthdate without giving it a second thought.

"You know it by heart?" she teased.

"Of course; it's an important date!" he replied with a grin. "It's her birthday, but also the date we officially joined the parent club." He gestured between them, making eye contact with her.

After the couple completed and signed the data form, the second form was a detailed questionnaire about their family circumstances. Each question gave them pause; the first one asked if the family unit was intact.

"Now it is," Tony mumbled. "How do we explain that on the small line here?" He pointed to the space for the answer for the question. Ziva shrugged; she didn't have any better answer than what he said.

From there things went downhill fast; the questions that many others could provide simple answers were not so simple for these two to respond. Tony shrugged in frustration and handed Ziva the clipboard and pen. She sighed and locked hands with him, squeezing gently.

"Perhaps we should leave this blank and explain when we talk to the family counselor?" she suggested. "Ours is a complicated story, yes?"

"Oh, Sweetcheeks, as much as I hate that word, it does seem to apply right now," he also sighed. He turned to face her, "We have to be as honest as possible to help Tali and ourselves, though. Do you agree?"

"Yes; we tell her a condensed version, but enough that she understands the situation and has something to build upon," Ziva nodded. "I had to do that with the obstetrician when I was pregnant…" He squeezed her hand in his and nodded that he understood.

Ziva made a note on the questionnaire that they would explain their answers in person with the doctor and handed the clipboard to the receptionist. The woman gave the forms a once-over and then looked at both Ziva and Tony with a frown. Thankfully, both were looking at Tali showing them a picture in her book and didn't see the frown.

About ten minutes later, one of the doors opened and a mid-thirties woman came out, "DiNozzo family? Hello, I'm Doctor Cenac." Tony scooped up Tali as Ziva gathered her books and handed Kelev to her daughter. The three followed the woman back to a large room set up very much like a family living room. After introducing herself, she asked Tony to put Tali down; then she told all three to take a seat anywhere in the room.

Ziva and Tony moved as one to the loveseat and sat side by side with their legs touching. Tali looked around the room and inspected a kid-sized armchair, but finally chose to sit in her Abba's lap.

"I see that you noted that you would explain more about your responses to the questionnaire in person; who would like to go first?" Dr. Cenac looked between the adults as Tali hugged Kelev and leaned back against Tony, watching everything with wide eyes.

"Abba, who that?" the little girl asked. "Ima, is she good person?"

"Ken, Tali; we can trust her," Ziva took Tali's hand in hers.

"Tals, she's going to help us all get our family in a good place," Tony kissed Tali's curls. "Ima, Abba, AND Tali. Okay?"

"Okay, Abba." She turned and grinned at him and then at her mother. "Good person, Ima!"

Dr. Cenac watched the interaction with interest and made notes on her pad of paper. "Ima, Abba. Jewish?"

"I am Israeli by birth," Ziva explained. "As is Tali. We are all American citizens as well. Tali and I lived near Tel Aviv for most of her first two years."

"Then she came to live with me in Washington DC in May," Tony added. "She and I have been in Israel and here in Paris since then." He went on to explain that Ziva had not been with them until recently and Ziva added that Tony had not been a part of Tali's life in person until May. When the question came about why the parents were apart, Ziva swallowed hard and looked to Tony for reassurance. They locked gazes and he squeezed her hand in support as she answered.

"I… I was not… in a good place emotionally… when I discovered that I was pregnant. I chose to shut Tony out, justifying it in my mind by telling myself that I could not hurt him further." She went on to explain about the miscarriage before she fled to Israel, about Tony finding her, and about her insisting that he return to DC without her. She fought to keep the tears at bay as she told her side of their story.

"What brings you here now?" Dr. Cenac gently asked both. She noted that Tali had slid off her father's lap and drifted to a doll family and doll house on the side of the room.

"We realized that this reuniting as a family is going to take some work, and that the issues Tali has when one of us leaves her may need outside help," Tony answered.

"In addition, we," Ziva motioned to herself and Tony, "think that we also could benefit from some professional advice."

Dr. Cenac nodded and smiled, "Realizing that you need help is a big step; I would like to try some things with you today, and also to see if Tali will let me observe her alone without either of you in the room. Is that okay?"

"Whatever helps us all," Tony and Ziva replied together.

"First, I want you to go out of the room, Tony. Tell Tali that you have to leave, but that you will return soon." Tony did as asked and left the room for five minutes. Tali was okay with it for about three to four minutes, but then she started looking towards the door.

"Abba said he would return, Tali; he will be back soon," Ziva reassured her baby.

"Very good, Ziva," Dr. Cenac noted that Ziva had picked up on Tali's worry about her Abba. Tony opened the door and walked in, greeting Tali.

"Hey, Tali; see, I came back!" he high-fived her and she grinned at him.

Ziva's turn to leave was next. She assured Tali that she would return soon and left the room. Tali started looking at the door for her Ima after about two to three minutes passed. Tony reassured her that her mother would be back.

At about four and one half minutes, Tali tugged at Tony's shirt, "Abba? Where Ima?"

"She'll be back very soon, Tali; she said she would come back in five minutes," he replied. Tali watched the door again and he squatted down to her level. "Ima said she'd be back, Tals; trust her."

Just then Ziva opened the door and stepped into the room, "I am back!" Tali ran over and grabbed her Ima's legs. "I promised that I would come back and I did, Tali."

"Good Ima; come back!" Tali grinned at her parents.

Dr. Cenac explained more about the principles used to reassure Tali and that telling her both that they would be back and that they came back would help with her anxiety about them leaving. "The other thing is that kids her age are very resilient. Six months from now it will probably be like this never happened as far as she is concerned. Now, I'd like to try both of you leaving."

The parents shared a look and shrugged, "Okay, we guess."

"Tali, we have to leave for a few minutes while Dr. Cenac stays with you. We will be right outside in the waiting room," Ziva explained to her toddler.

"Ima and I will be back soon, we promise," Tony added as he and Ziva walked out the door. He shut the door behind them.

"Do you know how hard that was?" he sighed to Ziva.

"Yes; my heart is pounding," she took his hand in hers, interlacing their fingers. He squeezed gently and they locked gazes.

"We can do this," he whispered as he leaned his forehead against hers. "It's for Tali and for us." She nodded as they shared a kiss.

Inside the room, Dr. Cenac watched Tali as the little girl watched her parents leave. "Tali, come show me the dolls and their house." She held out a hand and led the child to the doll house table. "Which one is Tali?" Tali picked out a girl doll with curly hair and a purple dress. "Where is the Ima doll?" Tali found a female adult with long dark curly hair. She then held up a male adult with a grinning face and brown hair.

"Abba!"

"Good choices, Tali. Can you show me your family?"

Tali put the Ima doll and the Tali doll together and held them up. Then she put the Ima doll down and held up the Tali doll and the Abba doll. Dr. Cenac put all three dolls together and held them up.

"Is this your family?" she asked gently.

Tali thought a minute and looked at each of the dolls, "Ima, Tali, Abba." She pointed them out one by one.

Dr. Cenac made some notes and called Tony and Ziva back into the room. She then talked to each of them individually and finally as a couple.

Near the end of the session, she gave them her summary of what she had observed and her recommendations. "What I see is that you are still figuring out the three of you as a family. Each of you wants to work on building the family unit, which is good. Tali is still trying to wrap her head around the idea of the two of you together; it's all new to her right now.

"The separation anxiety can be worked on with the techniques we practiced today. As a couple, you two need to set some rules for how you interact. Ziva, we have some things to work on for you with the possible PTSD, the depression and anxiety, and self-esteem. Tony, for you, we need to work on the trust issues and with the need to 'fix' everything and be the one who protects at any cost.

"What do you two think?"

Ziva slowly nodded and looked at Tony. He was still mulling over the doctor's words, but he finally signaled his agreement as well.

"We have to work on us individually as well as a couple to help our family and Tali," he said to no one in particular. "I want to make this work for US as well as for Tali," he turned to Ziva as he spoke.

"I do as well," she took his hands in hers and gazed into his eyes as she spoke. "I want us to be whole, to be a family, to build our family into something special… I promise to work on me as well, Tony."

He let go one of her hands to wipe his eyes, "Ziva, I promise to work on me also." Ziva's tears started falling. Tali watched her parents, glancing from one to the other.

"Ima cry? Abba cry? No sad, pweese?" She climbed between them and put a sloppy kiss on each of their cheeks.

"Oh, baby, these are happy tears," Tony placed a gentle kiss on her curls as Ziva pulled Tali into a hug.

"Yaldati, we are crying happy tears," she reassured her little one.

The family scheduled more appointments for Ziva and Tony and then headed home for lunch. While Tali was napping, her parents wrote out a set of 'ground rules' for themselves and promised each other to stick to their rules for the family and for themselves:

1\. Talk about feelings.

2\. Address an issue before it becomes a problem.

3\. It is okay to disagree.

4\. Forgive with the mind and the heart.

5\. Be honest.

6\. Be open.

7\. Be reachable.

8\. Ask, rather than assume.

9\. Communicate with words.

"We can do this, Zi," Tony pulled her to him. "I'm so proud of you asking for help."

Ziva snuggled into his embrace, "Yes we can do this; and I am proud of you for not trying to be the fix-it person and for allowing yourself to express emotions. I love you, Tony."

"I love you more, Ziva."

"To the moon and back, neshama sheli," she fused her lips to his to seal their new beginnings and promises.

* * *

**A/N So this chapter turned out very different from the original concept I had for it...**

**Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites! **


	5. One Month and Counting

Chapter 5 – One Month and Counting

On the Friday evening after their first week with the family therapist, Tony and Ziva were watching a James Bond film after tucking Tali into bed for the night. Tony's cell signaled an incoming text message. He swiped the screen and grinned; Tim was free for their usual weekly chat FINALLY. He missed the talks with the Probie and hearing about the new cases, well as much as Tim could share.

Ziva noticed his grin, "Share?" He held the screen so she could read the message from their former teammate. "Do you talk to him often?"

"We try for once a week, but you know how it goes when the team has a case," Tony explained. "Plus, Tim is SFA now and he has two new team members to break in. I'm proud of him, the way he's grown into the role, Ziva. Who would have thought he'd be SFA one day way back when?"

"Tim is capable agent, Tony; you trained him well."

Tony grinned, "Yeah, I did… Speaking of our Probie, what, if anything, do you want me to tell him about you returning?"

She thought a minute, "I would like to say hello to him. He was like a brother back in the day."

"Still is, Zi; I couldn't have put the pieces of your clues together without him," Tony added as he replied to the younger man's text message. He then got his laptop ready to receive a call. Ziva sat off to the side as the incoming call alert sounded. Tony accepted the video call.

"Hey, McSFA. How's life these days?" Tony responded cheerily to the call.

"Now that this bear of a case is over, life is much better," Tim greeted his brother of the heart. "You're in a good mood, Tony! It's good to see you almost back to the old Tony."

"Not gonna happen, Probie; this is the new me. Father to a two and one half year old and," he paused as he motioned Ziva over to the camera. "Half of the best partnership ever!" he grinned and pulled Ziva into his lap so Tim could see her. They watched as Tim's face ran through a gamut of emotions.

"I… I… you FOUND her," Tim wiped at his eyes. "Ziva, oh my gosh… it's so good to see you." He wiped his eyes again and blinked hard.

"It is good to see you too, Tim," Ziva smiled through tears. "I have missed you."

"Ditto." Tim was at a loss for words. Only Tony could have found the Israeli; they truly were destined to be together.

"She found us," Tony started to explain. "But all your help with the clues she left for me made it a lot easier for us to finally be a family." He wiped at his eyes, and turned away from the camera.

"So who all knows?"

"So far, you are the first one," Ziva answered as Tony blew his nose; and wiped his hand over his face to remove tear tracks. "We are taking things slowly. We both feel that we need to build our little family before we add others into the mix."

"How's Tali taking all of this?" Tim was curious about his best friends' little one. Over the time he and Tony had been Skyping since May; he'd talked with Tali several times and had grown quite fond of the toddler. He just about melted when she called him 'Unka Gee.'

"It's a work in progress; we all are," Tony grinned slightly. "Ziva and I have to get this dance of familiarity down, while little Tali has to wrap her head around having both parents in the same place at the same time." He wrapped his arms around Ziva as he spoke, "I love her Tim; she is my something permanent."

Ziva turned and kissed Tony, she could feel Tim squirming on the other end. "And I love him more than anything; he is my forever." She turned to face the camera again and smiled at her brother of the heart, "So, Timothy, you had better get comfortable with us showing affection. This is the new us!"

Tony grinned and added, "What she said!" and nuzzled into Ziva's neck.

"Okay, guys; I get it!" Tim grinned back. "But remember that I was NEVER comfortable with being caught in the middle…" He groaned and then chuckled, "I am so glad for you two; you deserve this."

"Thanks!" the couple said together.

"So who are you going to tell next? You know Abby will totally flip out."

Tony turned serious, "Like Ziva said, we want to take things slowly to get our family a solid footing first. We'd appreciate if you don't say anything to anyone just yet. We will tell the others in due time."

Tim nodded and held up his right hand with the Boy Scout sign, "Scout's honor; I will not say a word to anyone. Dee's going to be home any minute, so I'll say bye for now."

"Great talking with you, Tim," Ziva waved. "We love you!"

"Back at ya, Ziva… and you too Tony," Tim waved.

"Ditto," Tony waved and ended the call. He turned to Ziva, "That went well."

"Yes it did; it was good to talk to him. I am glad he has been like a brother for you," she smiled and leaned in to kiss him. "I think it is a good idea to go slowly with the others, especially from what you have told me about…"

"Shh, let's not bring up old business right now; we will deal with the others when the time is right. For the moment, all I want is you," he pulled her in for another kiss, "if you get my drift…"

~TIVA~

The weeks became a standard routine for the forming family; Mondays were shopping days; Tuesdays were the first appointment with Dr. Cenac for the week – Ziva had an individual session for the first thirty minutes followed by a thirty minute family session. Wednesdays were outing days; Thursday brought the second set of sessions with the therapist for the week – Ziva for the first thirty minutes and Tony for the second half hour. Friday evenings was the weekly call from Tim when he could; they tried to include Tali when possible so she could visit with 'Unka Gee.' The routine helped all three of them build the sense of family and form a cohesive unit.

About five weeks after Ziva first arrived in Paris, the parents were deciding what movie to watch after a Skype call with Tim and then getting Tali into bed. Both could feel the elephant in the room; the big talk they'd both been putting off was still looming over them.

Tony was looking over the DVD collection to select a movie while Ziva was gathering Tali's toys to put on the shelf. He thought about his conversation with Dr. Cenac from the day before; enough of this procrastination, it was time they dealt with the conversation that was so needed. He put the DVD in his hand back on the shelf and turned to Ziva.

Ziva placed the last of the books on Tali's shelf and made up her mind; tonight was the night they would address the one big issue still between them. Her conversations with Dr. Cenac had helped her realize that they both needed to get the conversation started to help take their relationship and family forward. She turned towards Tony.

"Ziva."

"Tony, I…" they spoke at the same time.

"You first," the couple said simultaneously and then both chuckled. Tony took the initiative.

"Ziva, we promised to be open and honest and to address things as they come up. We both know we've been avoiding 'the conversation.' Please, I need to know why you kept Tali from me," he took her hands in his and led her to the sofa.

"I agree with you. I also need to know how you feel about all of it; how it affects you and me," she added. "I guess I am still waiting for the anger."

Tony sighed, "Oh, Ziva; I told you before, I let go of the anger months ago. Yes, I was angry at first for not being told about my, OUR daughter, but I realized that holding on to that anger was not doing anybody any good. I guess I still feel hurt that you chose not to tell me…"

"I will start with 2013," she began to tell him about her inner demons and her self-doubt. How her head kept trying to convince her heart that he was better off without her. She didn't deserve him or to have happiness because of all the death and destruction that had plagued her life. She told him about her fear of losing the baby when she found out she was pregnant with Tali; how she justified not telling him so that he would not have to bear the pain of the loss of their child again.

"Ziva," he whispered through tears, "I would have moved the Earth for you. If you had miscarried again, you know I would have been there to grieve with you like we did before."

"I know; now I believe it when I say that I should have told you. Back then, my inner demons had my mind so twisted and thinking horrible things. In some ways, Tali saved me from myself…"

He nodded, "I read your letter; part of my anger was knowing that I should have been with you the whole time. I should have shared your fears, your worries, your concerns, and your joys. Now it just hurts that I missed all of that; it's a big hole in my life."

"I understand that so much better after the four months without her," Ziva continued telling her story. She told him about the threats, the feelings of being watched and followed, and the confrontations with Orli and others. She related about the multiple prongs of the threats to her life, Trent Kort being only a small part of that. Then she told him about Tannaz and her search for the woman who was hell-bent on causing the end of Ziva David. Tony listened with tears in his eyes; he sat silently, letting Ziva tell her journey, occasionally nodding or squeezing her hand in support.

"I am done running from life; more importantly, I am done running from myself, Tony. I want a life with you and Tali; I want our family to be a normal, happy family," she concluded. "I promise you that I will not run away again. I am here to stay; you cannot get rid of me so easily anymore!"

"Oh, Ziva; when I thought you were dead, a part of me wanted to die just so I could be with you again. Tali saved me from a rapid downward spiral and self-destruction. She gave me a reason to go on; she gave me a purpose in my life that I'd never had before. So, our baby saved me from myself as well. Our little miracle…" he choked back a sob. Ziva wiped her hands at his eyes and locked gazes with him.

"I am going to need some time to let go of the hurt, but I understand what was going on in your head much better now. Part of me wants to fix everything, but I realize that is not how it is going to be. You have to work on fixing you and I have to work on fixing me as we work together to build our relationship and our family. Ziva, the one thing I know without a doubt, and that I have known for a long time, even though I wouldn't admit it, is that I love you more than words can say. You are my everything, my completion, my world. I'm not going anywhere without you by my side. Ani ohev otach, Ziva David."

"Ani ohevet otcha, Anthony DiNozzo," she whispered in reply. "You complete me; you are my soulmate…"

Tears streamed down both faces as the couple leaned foreheads together. Tony placed his hands on either side of Ziva's face as she did the same to his. He pulled her into his arms and the couple sobbed together, holding each other tightly. The tears released pent up fears and shared feelings, and more importantly, felt to both as a cleansing of the heart and soul to have a new beginning.

"Come on, let's go to sleep; I don't know about you but I am exhausted all of a sudden," Tony took her hands in his and pulled her to her feet. "But it's a good exhaustion…"

"Yes it is," she smiled through tears as they walked hand in hand to their bedroom and cuddled on the bed. Within minutes, the pair was asleep in each other's arms; to an outside observer where one ended and the other started could not be discerned. One soul, two bodies that intertwined and fit together perfectly…

* * *

**A/N If you missed the story for end of season 10 (post-"Revenge" 10.22), it's "Aftermath."**


	6. Building a Family

Chapter 6 – Building a Family

November was looming; after 'the conversation' both Tony and Ziva felt that a great weight had been lifted from them. Tali was getting much better about her parents going out of the flat. Ziva had even gone shopping at the superstore alone without any reaction from her daughter.

The couple had discussed more of their feelings and reactions; Ziva told Tony about her plans to travel to the United States with Tali before the farmhouse was attacked. Together, they went through the DVD of pictures, videos, and journals that Ziva sent to Tony in Tali's go-bag.

"Ziva, thank you for using the pictures, videos, and journals to record Tali's first two years," Tony smiled at his soulmate. "I went through all of these on my own, but having you tell me about the pictures and videos has added another dimension."

"I think deep inside me, I knew I would be showing these to you one day, even in the beginning," she replied. "Now we can get pictures and videos of the three of us; our family…"

Tony nodded and grinned, "Tell me – honestly - way back when, did you ever think about a family?"

"You saw my 'I will' list."

"No, not that far back. When we were working together…" he paused, deciding how to word what he wanted to say. "After Somalia, when I realized and admitted to myself just how much you meant to me, if the topic of family came up, I always pictured you and me with a kid or two…"

Ziva locked gazes with him and grinned, "You were not the only one, mon petit pois. If someone asked me if I ever wanted children, I always pictured my children with you as the father. When Tim had that app that showed potential children based on photos of the parents…"

"Oh, my gosh, yes! I could so see us with a child or two when he ran our pictures," Tony laughed. "But not what showed up on his app. I pictured a little girl who looked like the way I remember you at three years old. Tali is darn close to that!"

Ziva laughed also, "That image that Tim's app produced was comical; but I pictured a little boy who resembled the picture you showed me of you as a baby. Tali has your eyes and of course your smile."

"Ima." Both parents looked towards the hallway. Tali walked slowly towards the sofa where her parents were sitting with the laptop computer. She stumbled and Tony jumped up. He moved over to his little girl and picked her up. He pressed his lips to her forehead.

He frowned, "Zi, she's burning up with a fever." Ziva was quickly by his side.

"Abba, tummy hurt. Head hurt," Tali cried. She put her head on her Abba's shoulder as her Ima went to get the fever thermometer from the bathroom cabinet.

Ziva returned with the ear and forehead thermometer and started to insert the probe into her daughter's ear.

Tali screamed and put her hand over her ear, "NO IMA! Hurt!"

"Does your ear hurt, Tali?" her mother asked as Tony wiped the tears off his baby's cheeks. The toddler nodded and put her hand over her ear again. Ziva moved the thermometer to Tali's forehead to take her temperature.

When the instrument beeped, both parents looked at the display. "One hundred one point two," Tony read aloud. "No wonder she feels as though she's burning up. Do we go find a clinic or look up her symptoms on the internet?"

Ziva replied, "You get her ready to go, and I will find a nearby clinic with an internet search." She grabbed Tony's tablet as he carried the little girl to her room to find socks, shoes, and her coat and hat.

An hour later, the family left the medical clinic about three blocks from their home with Tali sleeping in her stroller. Ziva carried the bottle of liquid pain reliever and the instructions from the pediatrician for the toddler's middle ear infection. If she didn't show improvement in three days, they were to return for possible antibiotics via a prescription.

Tony pushed the stroller with one hand and intertwined his fingers with Ziva's with their free hands. "Zi, we did it as a team with a sick kid," he grinned at her. "Does this mean we pass the 'we are a family' test?"

She grinned back at him as she swung their joined hands between them, "I do believe it does." The couple walked to their flat mostly in silence but sharing looks as they traversed the three blocks to home. Once inside the flat, Tony gently placed Tali in her bed and tucked the covers around her after Ziva put Kelev in her daughter's arms.

"Feel better, little Ninja," Tony put a soft kiss on his baby's forehead.

Ziva smoothed Tali's curls and kissed her forehead, "Sleep, yaldati so that you heal." The couple tiptoed out of the room, and swung the door about half-way.

Tali slept through the night and woke up about 0500 the following morning. She jumped on her parents' bed to snuggle before breakfast. She fidgeted between her parents, who were trying to get her to go back to sleep for another few hours. Ziva finally gave up around 0615 and both she and Tony got up to start the day.

"I guess someone is feeling better," Tony commented and nodded towards Tali who was racing towards the kitchen for her breakfast. Ziva nodded and followed the toddler.

"Pancakes, pweese, Abba," Tali demanded from her booster seat. "I very hungee; ani raev." Tony grabbed the mixing bowl, pancake mix, and a large spoon as Ziva poured juice for all three and started the coffee maker.

"Today is Friday; what do we do on Fridays, Tals?" Tony distracted his daughter while he flipped the almost-done pancakes.

"Fwiday is Unka Gee day!" Tali clapped her hands excitedly and grinned at her parents. "Me talk to Unka Gee?"

"Yes, yaldati," Ziva replied. "We will all say hello to Uncle Tim tonight but first you will have to take a long nap so that you can stay up to talk."

Tali reached for the plate of pancakes that Tony was handing to Ziva. She thought a minute about what her Ima said, "Okay Ima. Sleep at nap. Talk to Unka Gee. Deal!" She gave her Ima her best DiNozzo grin and reached for a pancake as Ziva put the plate in front of her daughter.

Tony chuckled as he was cooking the next batch of pancakes.

"She sounds just like you," Ziva playfully swatted his arm as she took the second plate of pancakes from him. "Deal, huh? I hope you do not have to regret teaching her that sometime in the future."

He grinned, "Better to make a deal than to have to figure out how to handle a stubborn child; that is something she gets from BOTH of us." He piled the last of the pancakes on a plate for himself and sat at the table with his girls.

~TIVA~

The family had just finished cleaning up from dinner when Tony's text message alert sounded. He swiped the screen to see that Tim was ready to call whenever they were.

He sent a reply and opened the Skype app on his laptop. The incoming call tone sounded a few minutes later. He clicked to accept the video call as Tali jumped up and down with excitement.

"UNKA GEE!" she shouted when Tim's face appeared on the screen.

Tim smiled, "Hi, Tali. How are you today?"

"Good," she responded and leaned in to kiss his image on the screen. Tony and Ziva laughed at their little one's antics. "Kiss for you Unka Gee."

"Thank you, Tali. Guess who is here with me?"

Tali looked at the screen as her parents took a chance to say hello in the brief quiet. Delilah moved into view on the DC end. "An' Dee!"

"Hi, guys," Delilah waved. "Hi, Tali, Tony, and Ziva."

"Hi," the adults in Paris replied.

Ziva moved forward and greeted Delilah, "I remember you; Tim showed us pictures of you before I left NCIS. It is good to get to talk to you."

"Same; Tim's told me a lot about you and how you are like a sister to him. Hopefully, we'll get to meet in person someday."

The four adults visited while Tali moved between her toys and her parents. She brought several toys and books to show Tim and Dee via the camera. After about twenty minutes of talking among the adults, Tali grabbed Kelev and climbed into her Abba's lap. She clutched the stuffed dog to her and leaned back against his chest, watching and listening to the adults talk.

As the call wound down, after thirty five minutes or so, Dee grinned and motioned towards the camera, "She's so cute when she's sleeping and hugging her dog."

"You two should make one of your own," Tony teased. "A mini-McGeek cousin for Tali."

Ziva pretend-punched his arm, "Tony, be nice."

"I am being nice, Zi. A mini for them would be awesome," he turned back to face the camera. "I didn't know what I was missing out on until this mini-Ninja came into my life. Now I couldn't imagine life without her."

"Someday, maybe," Tim took his brother's kidding with a grain of salt. "We are still working on us as a couple first." He squeezed Delilah's hand in his and smiled at her.

"It is getting late here, so we will say good night until next time," Ziva waved to the two on the other end. "Tali needs to get to her bed, so I will say goodbye." She stood and lifted the sleeping toddler from Tony's lap. She headed in the direction of Tali's room as Tony and Tim talked a bit more.

She had just finished getting Tali tucked under her covers when Tony came up behind her in the room. He placed a soft kiss on the little girl's forehead and whispered, "Laila tov, yaldati." The parents exited the room and pulled the door almost to; leaving it unlatched for Tali to come out when she awoke.

In the living room, Ziva curled into Tony's side as the couple started watching a movie on one of the cable channels. It had English dialogue and subtitles in French. Tony absently fingered Ziva's curls as she leaned on her favorite pillow.

"Do you think we will ever have another one?" Tony asked at a slow point in the film's action.

Ziva sat up and looked him in the eyes, "Another child?"

"Yeah. We got a pretty cool one on the first try; why not try for another one?" he grinned at her.

She smiled, "Perhaps. We shall see if it is in the books for us. We are still figuring out this family thing, but we are getting good at it with the three of us."

"In the cards, Zi. Would you want another kid?" he gave her his best serious look to let her know he was not joking around.

She replied without giving it a thought, "Yes, I think another child would be wonderful. A sibling for Tali would be nice. Plus you would get to go through the whole pregnancy and birth experience."

He gazed at her with love, "You'd still be doing the hard part, though. I think it would be cool for Tali to have a brother or sister. Something I never had…" He pulled her to him and put his hands on her face, "You're really okay with trying for another one?"

She nodded, "I am." She moved closer and put her lips on his, as her arm wrapped around his torso.

He deepened the kiss and pulled her into his lap, "Perhaps we should go practice?"

"Mmm, I like that idea…" she tugged at his shirt.


	7. Ima's Birthday

Chapter 7 – Ima's Birthday 2016

With November came the color and the cold. The trees in the family's favorite parks were adorned with bright yellows, oranges, and reds. Tali was fascinated with the colorful leaves that blanketed the ground and walkways, often picking up a brightly colored leaf to show her parents. The cooler temperatures meant less time spent outside and more time inside. Since the tourists were fewer, the family used their outing days to visit popular and well-known sites around the city.

Ziva's birthday was on a Saturday; Tony planned to take the family to Disneyland Paris for the day. He purchased their tickets in advance in a package deal that also included a shuttle to the park. Since Tali was under three, she got free admission with her parents' tickets.

The night before, Tony waited until Ziva was busy giving Tali her bath before he dug into the small backpack hidden in the bottom drawer of his dresser. He was not quite sure if the time was right to pull out one or both items hidden there. He'd carried both from DC in May mostly as his tangible link to Ziva; he'd given the Star of David necklace to Tali the second day he had her, but Tali had since given it back to her Ima. One of the gifts that he and Ziva already bought for Chanukah for Tali was her own Magen David.

His hand found the two velvet jewelers' boxes in the 'hidden' pocket inside the backpack. He pulled them out; the dark blue velvet box held his mother's engagement ring. The sapphire and diamond ring held many memories for him; he remembered seeing it on his mother when he was a small child. That same ring had been on Ziva's finger for about a month in the summer of 2013, when he'd gone off the grid to spend time with her.

He opened the second box; the rose gold 'Song of Solomon' rings that they'd bought in Haifa four years ago. The two matching rings could be used as wedding rings; he and Ziva had secretly worn them when not at work from the time of the Haifa trip through her fleeing to Israel at the beginning of the summer in 2013. He touched the rings, one at a time. Was it time to bring these out again?

He was startled from his musing by naked Tali running into the bedroom with Ziva not far behind. He quickly shoved the two boxes back into the secret pocket in the pack and zipped the main compartment shut. As Ziva snagged a giggling Tali, Tony shoved the backpack back into the drawer and pushed it shut.

"Talia Elisheva DiNozzo," Ziva warned the child as she squirmed from her mother's grasp and tried to escape from the bedroom.

"Abba," Tali ran towards her father, trying to avoid her mother.

Tony wrapped his arm around the toddler, "Gotcha!" She squealed as he tried to blow raspberries on her bare belly. "Mini-ninja giving you trouble?" he asked Ziva.

"She is being stubborn," Ziva huffed. "All I want to do is put on her pajamas and brush her hair." She held up the Disney-themed pajamas and Tali's hairbrush. Tali giggled more and shook her head no as her Ima tried to move closer.

Tony held out his hand for the pajamas, "Tals, if you let Ima or me put on your pajamas without a fight, we can do TWO stories for bedtime tonight. AND Ima and I will sing 'Numi, Numi' for you. Deal?"

"No," the toddler responded automatically. "Two stories; okay." She reached for the pajamas in her Abba's hand. Tony looked at Ziva and shrugged; apparently their baby had hit the 'respond no to everything' stage. He held open the waist of the pajama bottoms as Tali stepped each foot through into the legs. She held up her hands so that Ziva could slip the top over her head.

Tony sat on the end of the bed and pulled Tali into his lap so Ziva could attempt to tame the wet curls on the little girl's head. While her Ima brushed, Tony used the time to practice color names with the toddler.

He pointed to Cinderella's dress on the pajama top, "What color?"

"Blue; kahol," the little one replied.

"Very good; how about this one?" he pointed to his own red shirt.

"Adom; red," Tali grinned at him. She pointed to her Ima's shirt, "Geen; yarok."

Ziva nodded, "What color are Abba's pants?"

"Bwack; shahor!" Tali clapped her hands and smiled at her parents.

"What's your favorite color, Tali?" Tony tickled her as he asked.

"Puhple; sagol!"

Ziva ran the brush through Tali's curls one last time, "Go pick out two stories, yaldati. Abba and I will be right there to read to you." Tali ran towards her shelf in the living room to choose her bedtime stories. Ziva turned to Tony, "Thank you for getting her to stop fighting me with the pajamas."

"Hey, we're a team; always," he grinned at her and pulled her closer, softly brushing his lips on hers. "We're getting pretty good at this parenting thing."

She grinned back at him, "We are. Come, parent partner, and let us get our feisty two-year-old into bed."

He followed her to Tali's room where the little girl was arranging her stuffed animals across the bed. They watched her from the doorway as she kissed each one and said, "Laila tov." They made eye contact and smiled; it was parent moments like these that made for a lifetime of memories.

~TIVA~

After a full day at Disneyland Park, the family arrived home past Tali's normal bedtime. They'd spent the day exploring the five themed areas of the park; Tali's favorite was the Fantasyland area with her favorite characters. She posed with almost all of the costumed characters they'd encountered and enjoyed the various rides. At Tali's insistence, all three had acquired embroidered mouse-ear beanies, which they wore around the park. Ziva's favorite was the Liberty Square area with its US history theme. Tony claimed he didn't have a favorite; he just enjoyed watching his girls have fun. Ziva teased him when he dragged the family to the Tomorrowland Speedway so that he could drive one of the hotrod cars. Tali fell asleep on the shuttle ride back to the Eiffel Tower area where the family entered the Metro system to return home.

Tony carried a sleepy toddler into her room and laid her on the bed; Ziva pulled off her shoes and tucked her under the covers with Kelev. There was no need for a bedtime story tonight! The parents each kissed their daughter's forehead and whispered, "Good night, little princess."

In the living room, Ziva yawned as she sat on the sofa; Tony sat next to her. "Quit that, Sweetcheeks," he joked as he also yawned.

"Perhaps we should also go to bed?" Ziva suggested.

Tony pulled a small box from his pocket and grinned, "Not quite yet. Yom huledet sameach, Ziva. Ani ohev otcha." He handed her the gift-wrapped box as he spoke. "Happy birthday, my love."

Ziva unwrapped the small box from its shiny silver paper with red and blue sparkles. She opened the gray jewelers' box and gasped, "They are beautiful, Tony! I love the Israeli fire opals." She leaned towards him to give him a kiss.

"Tali helped me choose the earrings, that day you went to Dr. Cenac alone," he explained. "They aren't your diamond hoops, but…"

"I love them," she removed each earring from the box and put them in her ears.

Tony grinned, "Oh, yes… by the way, your diamond hoops are in a safety deposit box in my DC bank."

"You kept them?"

"Yeah, I kept most of the stuff from your apartment. I moved the bed to my place and your cookbooks, too. When I left DC, I put the things from my apartment into the same storage unit as your things. It's there waiting for us if and when we go back. All except for the goldfish; Tim got them as part of the sublet of my old place."

"Them? I knew you had one goldfish. I believe her name was Kate?" Ziva smiled.

Tony gulped; he hadn't planned to spill the name of the other goldfish, ever. "Um, yeah, I got another fish a while back," he admitted.

"Oh? What did you name that one?" she was curious.

"I… um… I… named it Ziva."

"You named a fish after me?" she was flabbergasted.

"Yep; cute like you, too," he grinned his best DiNozzo grin at her. "But enough about the fish; happy birthday, Ziva. I want this one to be the first of many with happy memories for you." He pulled her to him and locked his lips on hers.

"Toda," she whispered when they broke for air. She pulled him to his feet and led him to their bedroom.


	8. Thanksgiving in Paris

Chapter 8 – Thanksgiving in Paris

"Hurry, Tali," Tony called out to the little girl who was slow to get going again after her nap. "Uncle Tim and Aunt Dee will be calling any minute!"

"She's on the p-o-t-t-y," Ziva replied. "We will be there soon."

"Oh, okay; definitely more important…" he looked at the laptop screen double-checking that the Skype app was open and ready to receive a video call. The NCIS gang was all heading to Ducky's condo for Thanksgiving dinner. Tim and Delilah arranged to make their weekly call with the family in Paris before they left for Ducky's.

Tali came running into the living room just as the incoming call tone sounded. Ziva sat next to Tony and pulled Tali into her lap as Tony answered the call.

"Hi, Unka Gee and An' Dee!" Tali yelled out before her parents or the other adults could get a word said.

"Inside voice, Tals," her Abba reminded the toddler. "Hi, guys. Happy Thanksgiving."

"Happy Thanksgiving, Tali, Tony, and Ziva!" Dee waved as she greeted the family. "Are you getting a Thanksgiving dinner too?"

"Yes; I found a grocer with a package-deal for the whole dinner. They have a lot of American customers this time of year,"' Ziva nodded. "We will have turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, cranberry jelly, dressing, and pumpkin and apple pies."

Tony grinned at the mention of apple pie, one of his favorite Thanksgiving traditions, "Got to get the mini-Ninja trained in all things American. It'll be her first Thanksgiving dinner."

"Good," Tim gave a thumbs' up. "Going to be interesting here; Bishop's brothers are in town for the holiday. Plus she's got a steady boyfriend. Qasim is a translator. They are all going to be at Ducky's for dessert. Her brothers found out she had a boyfriend and interrogated everyone at NCIS, even me. At one point the theory was that she was dating Gibbs because Abby ran some algorithm for compatibility and the best match was Gibbs."

Ziva and Tony started laughing as soon as Tim mentioned Gibbs as a 'possible boyfriend.' Tim started chuckling and then Delilah joined in. Tali laughed because the adults laughed.

"Can you imagine anyone thinking Gibbs and Ellie?" Tony laughed. "He could be her father and then some."

"The funny part was the two new guys, Nick and Clay, trying to point the finger at each other," Tim wiped at his eyes and chuckled some more. They'll both be at Ducky's dinner as well. Clay has no family; and Nick's not got a lot. In a way, I think that's why Boss-man picked them for the team…"

Ziva spoke up, "He has a habit of doing that, does he not?" She thought back on the team when she was a part of it; they'd been more like a family than her blood family.

"Yeah, he does," Tony and Tim also got reflective as well. Delilah was quiet; she knew of the family-like feeling of the old team, but had not experienced it except through Tim's stories and the interactions between Tim and Tony.

"Well then, we should be thankful that we each got to be a part of that," Ziva spoke from the heart. "It brought us all together; and it brought me my family." She squeezed Tony's hand in hers and hugged Tali a little tighter.

The little girl broke the pensive mood by sliding off her Ima's lap and retrieving the picture of turkeys that she and Tony made by tracing their hands on the paper, Tali 'colored' the hand-turkeys by scribbling over the outlines with various colors of crayons and markers. Tony added eyes and feet for the finishing touch.

She held the picture up to the camera on the laptop, "Looka my tuh-kees, Unka Tim! Me and Abba drawed it."

"Very nice, Tali," Tim smiled at her. "Are you going to eat some turkey today?"

Tali looked to her parents, "Uh-huh. Tanks givin', An' Dee. 'Merican dinner, right Abba?"

"Ken, Tali, meod ameriqani" he tickled her sides causing the little one to giggle and squeal. He turned to the camera, "Sorry, I told her it's very American."

Tim smiled, "Your Hebrew is getting impressive, Tony."

Ziva chuckled, "You should be here when we have conversations with the languages mixed in the same sentence; English, Hebrew, and French."

Tim and Dee laughed with Ziva and Tony as Tali just grinned at all of them. She started hopping back and forth from foot to foot and Tony stood up quickly.

"Pee dance, let me go help her and I'll say good bye for now," he explained as he hurried Tali in the direction of the bathroom. Ziva talked a minute or so longer and wished the couple on the DC end a happy Thanksgiving before ending the call.

The family had their turkey dinner with all the fixings at their usual dinner hour. They each had pie as the family watched _A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving._ Tony pulled up a video of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade from New York on his tablet afterwards and he shared memories of watching the annual parade with his mother with Ziva and Tali as the three watched highlights of the parade.

When Santa made his appearance at the end, Tony paused the video playback. He very solemnly explained about Santa to wide-eyed Tali. Neither parent was too sure about just how much their daughter understood, but it was definitely a memory worthy moment when she repeated '_Ho, ho, ho'_ with her Abba.

After Tali was tucked in for the night, Ziva and Tony headed to their room since the little girl had stayed up later than usual. Tony came out of the bathroom after brushing his teeth as Ziva was getting under the covers.

"Do you ever think about being in DC?" she asked him. "Do you miss being with the team for the holiday?"

He thought about his response, "Yes and no; home is with you and Tali. I wouldn't have it any other way now. I miss Tim, but the team has changed, Zi. It's not like a family like it once was. I think I'd rather have good memories of the past than to have sad memories of the present."

Ziva nodded as he slid into the bed next to her, "I understand that. I cannot imagine my future holidays without you and Tali in them. Maybe we can find a way to visit with Tim and Delilah, or have them come here. Of all of the old team, I also miss Tim the most."

He pulled her to him, "We have each other and Tali; that's all I need." He kissed her and she moved to straddle his hips as things heated up between them.

~TIVA~

Tony woke to an empty bed; Ziva was not next to him. He checked the time on his phone; 0538. He got out of the bed and was about to see if Ziva had gone to Tali's room when he heard sounds from the bathroom.

"Zi? You okay?" he quietly opened the bathroom door to find her sitting with her head over the open toilet. He moved next to her and pulled her hair out of her face. "Throwing up?"

Ziva nodded as she dry heaved and moaned. "I do not know what upset my stomach; I just felt nauseous all of the sudden. Toda." She took the cup of water Tony offered to her and sipped.

"Something you ate?"

"It could be," she sipped some more water to clear the taste out of her mouth. "We shall see."


	9. We Got This (And More)

Chapter 9 – We Got This (and More)

After the round of vomiting and nausea, Ziva climbed back into bed with Tony at her side. He pulled her close and placed soft kisses on her hair as she snuggled into his chest. She felt exhausted as well as still a bit nauseous.

Thankfully, Tali slept later than usual and did not wake her parents until almost 0830. The toddler climbed up on the foot of the bed, at once noticing that she would not be able to crawl between her parents. She moved up the side of the bed alongside her Abba and plopped herself on his chest.

"Ooof," Tony felt the weight of the child hit his chest and quickly opened his eyes. "Tali," he tried to move without disturbing Ziva who was somehow still snoring softly. His arm snaked up to his daughter, "Come by my side, not on my chest, please. That hurts Abba."

"Okay," she moved into the opposite side from her Ima and pulled his arm around her. "Ima sleepy?"

"Ken, baby," Tony spoke softly trying to let Ziva sleep. "Ima has an upset tummy."

"Oh, poor Ima! Tali kiss and make it better?"

Tony smiled, "Let Ima sleep, Tali. You can give her a kiss later."

The little girl seemed satisfied with his answer. She rolled into his side and put her hand on his chest. Tony had to grin at the similarity of his two girls; they were almost mirror images the way the two were using him as a pillow. His reflection was cut short when Tali suddenly sat up.

"Ani raev, Abba. Hungee monster in my tummy," she patted her belly and grinned at him.

"Do we need to feed the hungry belly?" he lightly tickled her tummy and she giggled. At her nod, he slowly tried to get his other arm free from Ziva. "Let me get my arm out from around Ima without waking her and we will go get some breakfast."

Ziva stirred, "I am awake. I was just enjoying listening to you two talking." She rolled off her lover and sat up and looked towards her daughter, "Boker tov, yaldati." The little girl climbed over her father and wrapped her arms around her Ima's neck placing a sloppy kiss on her mother's cheek.

"Love you, Ima." Ziva hugged her baby as Tony stretched and stood up.

He turned to the two still on the bed, "Who wants pancakes? With chocolate chips?"

"ME! ME!" Tali shouted and jumped off her mother. She jumped off the end of the bed and ran towards the kitchen; Tony smiled at Ziva and then followed his daughter as Ziva got up from the bed.

She immediately noticed that the nausea was not as bad as earlier but still present. In the kitchen, Tali and Tony were getting the pancake ingredients ready. She entered the kitchen and smiled at the two loves of her life; everything she'd been through to get to this point had been so worth it. Very few days had those inner voices shouting at her anymore; with determination, the love of her best friend and his support, and sessions with Dr. Cenac, she'd made a peace within herself. She made progress to the point that she only felt the need for once per week with the family therapist.

"How many pancakes, Zi?" Tony nudged her out of her thoughts.

"I think I will just have some tea and toast for breakfast," she replied, making eye contact with him.

He nodded, "Still a bit queasy?" He turned to Tali, "Just you and me for pancakes, mini-Ninja. How many can you eat?"

"Dis many," Tali held up her hand with all of her fingers extended. "I hungee! Ani raev."

"How many is that, hmm, Tals? Let's count," he moved his finger to each of hers as they counted, "One, two, three, four, five. Atah raev. Let's count again this time in Hebrew." Tali held out her hand as he moved his finger to each of hers another time, "akhatt, shetayim, shalosh, areba', khamesh._"_

After breakfast, the family decided to stay in for the day; it was rather gloomy outside with rain and fog and a bit of wind. Ziva suggested that they go through Tali's clothes and shoes to determine what still fit. She'd noticed some of the tops and pants were getting snug. Tony started a load of laundry and then went to help Ziva in Tali's room.

They were almost done sorting the clothes into keep and discard piles when the dryer signaled the end of the load; Tony emptied the cleaned and dried clothing from the dryer and transferred the load from the washer to the dryer. One of Ziva's pairs of pants was near the bottom of the washer. He grabbed the wet fabric and the button snagged on the agitator and popped off the pants. He found the button and placed it where he could remember it later when the clothes were dry. He started the dryer and took the basket of clothes ready to be folded to the master bedroom and dumped it on the bed.

In Tali's room, Ziva had pulled the last pair of shoes out of the bottom of the closet. She looked around for anything else and spotted a small duffel near the back corner. Curious, she pulled the bag out of the closet and opened the zipper. All of the clothing she'd sent with Tali was carefully folded and stacked in the bag. She could feel the tears forming.

"Hey," Tony sat next to her. "You okay?"

She smiled at him through her tears, "You kept this stuff?" She gestured to the contents of the duffel.

"Yeah, before you came back it was a link to you. I just felt that we needed to have the clothes that you picked out for her to come to me, in case, you know, in case…" he choked up.

"I am sorry," she whispered and put her hand on his. He flipped his hand palm upward and interlaced their fingers.

"Don't be, Zi. What matters is that you came home," he leaned towards her and brushed his lips on hers.

"IMA! ABBA!" Tali came rushing into the room with her tablet in one hand. "Looka my picture!" She turned the screen towards her parents. "It's Kelev." Sure enough, the image on the screen was of Kelev sitting on the coffee table. The child had figured out how to use the camera on her tablet.

~TIVA~

"She is finally asleep," Ziva walked into the living room and stopped. Tony was sitting on the sofa with her pants, a needle and thread, and a determined look on his face. Two of his shirts and one of Tali's dresses were in a pile on the coffee table. She watched as he threaded the needle and began to sew the button back on her pants.

She moved next to him, "When did you become all domestic?" She grinned at him when he looked up at her.

"Necessary skill; just have never used it before now," he explained. "I learned how to replace buttons, fix seams, and a few other tricks for repairing clothing in ninth grade. We had to take a life skills class." He made the knot in the thread to hold the repair in place and cut the thread just above the knot.

He checked that the button was firmly attached and then folded her pants and placed them on the table. He grabbed one of his shirts and looked in a small box for a button that matched those on the shirt. He found one and started attaching it to the shirt with the needle and thread.

"Want some help?" Ziva reached for what appeared to be a small sewing kit.

"Sure; you can fix the seam on Tali's dress," he motioned towards the garment in the pile. "I have more needles and thirty some odd colors of thread in the kit."

Ziva quickly threaded the needle and used a back-stitch technique she'd learned from her Ima to mend the torn seam. At Tony's amused look, she grinned again, "You are not the only one who can repair clothing. Ima made sure we all knew the basics, even Ari. IDF also taught us basic clothing repair."

"Zi," Tony began without looking up from his sewing. "Are you okay? You've been barely eating breakfast this past week and…"

"Just some nausea occasionally; and I am a bit more tired than usual. I am okay," she replied. "Maybe I had some sort of stomach flu?" She shrugged and made a knot in the thread to finish the seam repair on the second seam on the little dress.

"You'd tell me if it's more than that, right?"

"Of course; we promised to be honest and open. Tony, I am fine; it is nothing to worry about," she tried to reassure him. She wasn't worried about her sporadic feelings of nausea; they seemed to pass quickly and she hadn't thrown up since that morning after their Thanksgiving dinner.

Tony finished sewing the button on his second shirt; he packed up the sewing kit and Ziva grabbed the folded clothes. They headed to their bedroom to put things away. He watched Ziva as she placed her pants on the shelf in the closet; she seemed different, but he couldn't quite figure out how or why. It was like the aura around her had softened and her curves had gotten just a bit curvier. He didn't dare say that she'd filled out some for fear of his life, though.

She turned to see him watching her, "What?"

He gave her his best Ziva-only smile, "Admiring the view, Sweetcheeks."

She sashayed over to where he was sitting on the end of the bed, "Oh, yes?" She straddled his lap; "Would you like to see more?" she teased and locked her lips on his, feeling his body react.

"Mmmm- hmm," he mumbled into a return kiss. "All of you…" his hands started undressing her as she unbuttoned his shirt and slipped it off his shoulders. "I would make love to you all night if I could…"

~TIVA~

Tony came from his shower into the master bedroom in his boxers and a t-shirt. He noticed Ziva struggling to zip and button a pair of jeans that seemed quite snug on her. He grabbed his own jeans and slid them up over his legs and zipped the fly.

"Guess Tali's not the only one outgrowing her clothes," he quipped. Before he could react, Ziva flung the jeans at him and sat on her side of the bed and started crying. He walked over to her with the jeans in his hands.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I was trying to make you laugh; it was just a joke," he knelt down in front of her and brushed his thumbs over her cheeks. "I didn't mean anything by it…"

"I… I…," she leaned into him and sobbed. He rubbed a hand over her back to calm her. "That was the third pair of jeans I tried to get on; they are all too tight!"

He stroked her hair and back, "We can go get you some new jeans that fit better…"

Ziva pulled back and looked at him, locking gazes, "I am sorry. I do not know why I reacted that way or why I felt a need to cry. It is frustrating to have my clothes be so tight-fitting when they were fine last week." She thought about everything that had been happening with her since Thanksgiving. "OH!"

Tony saw the spark in her face, "Oh what?"

She was about to tell him what she'd realized when Tali came running into the room. "IMA! ABBA! Unka Tim on 'puter. Me answer call!"

"To be continued," he told her as he stood up and followed Tali to the living room.

Tim needed some information from one of Tony's old cases that might possibly be linked to a current case. Tony shared what he remembered from the case that he'd worked solo and its ties to Baltimore PD. He told Tim about the contact from his days as a detective in Baltimore and what info he'd gleaned from her.

"Thanks, Tony," Tim was almost ready to hang up and get some much-needed sleep. He'd been on the current case for three days straight with very little rest.

"Any time, bro." Tony turned to see Ziva behind him.

She waved to her brother of the heart, "Hi, Tim. I only heard that you need to sleep. I will not keep you but I did want to say hello."

"Thanks; I really needed Tony's input on this one. It's possibly tied to one of his old cases from a few years back. Talk again soon," Tim waved and ended the call as he yawned.

Tony closed the laptop and glanced over at Tali playing with her dolls; he patted the sofa cushion next to him for Ziva to sit. "We really need to do something about little miss smarty pants over there; she's figuring out the technology faster than I thought she would. Either we are going to have to put the laptop and remotes up on a high shelf or password-protect everything…"

Ziva nodded; Tali was picking up things quickly and she constantly surprised her parents. Yesterday the toddler had loaded one of her DVDs into the player and powered up both the TV and the player without any help. She was watching her movie when Tony and Ziva came out of their room at 0730.

The couple spent most of the day Tali-proofing the flat and specifically the technology devices. The toddler watched her parents as they created passwords for most of the devices. Tony explained to her that they were making sure she didn't get into something she shouldn't, but he wasn't too sure how much she actually understood. Both parents laughed when each of them selected their daughter's birthdate as the password for many of the devices. At least it would be an easy one for them to remember!

The conversation from the morning got put off until nearly bedtime for the adults. As they were cuddling in their bed, Tony put his hand under Ziva's chin and tilted her face to look in her eyes. "That conversation from this morning…"

"I made a doctor's appointment today while we were securing devices," Ziva started.

"Doctor? What's wrong Zi? Should I be worried?"

"With an ob/gyn, Tony," she added.

"Oh, female stuff? OH! Are we? Are you?" he was at a loss for words.

Ziva grinned at him, "I think so, but the doctor visit will confirm. I got to thinking this morning about the nausea, the tight clothes, the tiredness, the crazy moods… I have not had a period since we've been together again. I just figured my body was getting back to normal after being subjected to high stress and all the other…"

He cut her off by fusing his lips to hers. When they broke for air, he grinned at her, "She's having my baby…"

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**A/N One more chapter to go. For the guest reviewer who commented that this story is not in canon, I never said it is. My AU diverges from canon following "Family First" (13.24) and this story is part of that AU.**


	10. Christmas in Paris

Chapter 10 – Christmas in Paris

Tony and Ziva both awoke about 0500 on the day after Christmas. It had been a crazy four days with a whirlwind of activity, news, Christmas calls, Tali opening gifts, last minute plans, and some major steps forward for the couple and family.

"Boker tov, soon-to-be Mrs. DiNozzo," Tony pulled his fiancée to him and kissed her with all the love he felt for this woman who had given him the best gifts ever. He interlaced the fingers of his right hand with those of her left hand and drew them towards his mouth. He kissed her knuckles one at a time and smiled at her, "It belongs there!" He ran a finger over his mother's engagement ring on her ring finger.

She started to say something and he cut her off by kissing her lips again. When the couple broke for air, he moved his hand to the small baby bump, "Boker tov baby DiNozzo." Ziva's pregnancy had been confirmed four days ago. She was now at about thirteen weeks; the sonogram in January would give them a more exact due date and development of the baby. "The two best Christmas gifts ever; you said yes and we have a baby on the way!" He felt his eyes tearing up.

"Did you even doubt that I would agree to marry you?" she joked. "I still cannot believe you arranged the whole wedding yesterday when we were on Skype with Tim and Dee. Midnight on New Years' Day in Reno! And that after a midnight proposal on Christmas day."

He brushed her hair out of her face, "The beginning of the day for a new beginning; and for our wedding, the beginning of a new year as well. I'm glad they are able to meet us there to be our witnesses. I always thought I'd be Tim's best man sometime in the future. Now he's going to be my best man and Delilah's going to be your maid of honor."

She nodded, and put a hand on his face, "I am sad that your father will not be there. If he had stayed longer than three hours…"

"His loss, Zi, and he was such an ass to you. We're better off without him and his negativity. I love you, Ziva David; and I have loved you for a long time. Looking back, I think I first loved you the day we crossed paths again in the bullpen at NCIS when you were looking for Gibbs. Trying to keep him from hurting your brother, if I remember correctly…"

She looked sad for a moment at the mention of Ari, but brightened quickly. "I love you, Anthony D. DiNozzo, Junior. I think I first loved you when you babysat in Haifa all those years ago. I know that when I realized it was you at NCIS, my heart did a little dance of joy."

"So, we are really doing this," he quipped. "Finally getting hitched… we have an awesome kid and another one on the way. We sure have a knack for doing things out of the usual order, don't we?"

She smiled and brushed her lips on his, "It **IS** the correct order for us, is it not? I am ready to start our life as a married couple now; I was not ready before."

"True; I had to grow up some and learn how to be worthy of your love," he locked his lips to hers. "Did I tell you today how much I love you?"

"We have both grown and grown up." He wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes as she wiped a tear from his cheek. "Ziva DiNozzo; I like the way that sounds…"

"IMA!" Tali could be heard running in the hallway towards their room. Both sat up as the little girl climbed on the foot of the bed. "Boker tov, Abba." She wormed in between her parents and grinned at them.

The family snuggled for about half an hour; Tali had been quiet for a bit, but she suddenly shot up and announced that she was hungry. She tapped her hands on each of her parents' faces to make sure they were awake and again mentioned that she was ready to eat.

The three moved into the kitchen where Tony started the coffee maker and poured orange juice for all of them while Ziva took out some eggs and turkey bacon. Tali helped her Abba make toast and helped her Ima scramble the eggs.

Tony put a small notepad by his place at the table; Ziva cocked an eyebrow at him. "We need to make a check list for the wedding and trip to Reno," he explained. "I'm only doing this once, so we have to get it right the first time!"

"I do not need to have anything special; having you and Tali is enough," Ziva put plates of food at each of their places and sat down to eat. "I mean, I do not need a special dress or any of the usual wedding craziness."

Tony put his hand on hers, "Sweetcheeks, this is OUR wedding. You need to have at least a new white dress; I am planning to wear a suit and tie. We may not be doing the whole big to-do, but it's still a special occasion and I want my wife to be dressed to the nines."

She gave him a strange look, "What about rings? They are more important to me than a dress."

He got up and went to their bedroom and returned with the black jewelers' box with the Hebrew letters from the vendor in the Haifa market. He placed it on the table and watched Ziva's reaction. She glanced at him and he nodded. She opened the box to verify the contents were what she suspected.

"You kept them…" she whispered as she fingered the two rose gold Song of Solomon rings. The Hebrew inscription was from the Song of Songs – '_I am my beloved's; and my beloved is mine.'_ Memories of the long weekend in Haifa from four years ago flooded back for both adults.

"Yeah," he replied softly. "They were a connection to you; and the memories of us wearing them kept you alive in my mind. If you want, we can use these as our wedding rings…"

Her reply was to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him, "Yes, ken, oui, si, ja!"

Tali looked at the rings in the box as her parents shared kisses, "Pwetty rings, Ima."

"Yes, they are, baby," Tony grinned. "Ima and I are going to use them as our wedding rings. When we put them on each other's fingers, we will be pledging our love to each other forever. I have an idea, Tali! Would you like to get a new pretty dress for Abba and Ima's wedding?"

"Me? New dwess?" the toddler grinned and nodded. "Blue and sparkles! Pwincess dwess for Tali!"

"Yes, it's settled then; Ima AND Tali are going to get pretty new dresses for the wedding." Tony turned to Ziva, "Let's go dress shopping today?"

"Okay, but first let's see if there is anything else we need so we only have to make one trip out for shopping," she suggested.

By mid-morning the family was at an upscale clothing store; they'd found a dress for Tali quickly. The blue dress had a sequined bodice and a princess neckline, with a chiffon skirt. The little girl was thrilled to have the sequins declaring that her princess dress was the best ever.

Ziva opted for a white lace and sequined A-line with a high waist, V-neck, tea length dress, with short lacy sleeves. The one she added to their pile of purchases fit almost perfectly and didn't need any alterations. She was satisfied that it had some room over her baby bump. After finding her dress, she suggested that Tony look in the men's department since she and Tali were getting new clothes.

After some hemming and hawing, he selected a three-piece charcoal gray suit and white dress shirt. Ziva found a tie that matched the shade of blue in Tali's dress; he grinned and added it to the pile of garments. All three headed to the shoe department, where Tali chose a pair of black patent leather Mary-Janes. Ziva selected white dressy pumps with a small heel and Tony found black leather dress shoes similar to the Italian leather shoes he used to wear at NCIS.

As Tony paid the clerk, Ziva commented, "I will send a message to Dee that the color is blue so she can coordinate with us. Do you want Tim to coordinate as well?"

"Just tell him charcoal gray suit with white dress shirt; let's get another tie for him," he responded. The clerk added the second tie to the purchase and Tony made arrangement to have the order delivered to their flat.

After lunch at the café where the couple ate many years ago while on a trip to escort a witness from Paris, they walked home. Ziva put Tali in her bed for a nap while Tony pulled the fire-resistant lock-box from the bottom drawer of his nightstand.

He placed it on the bed and unlocked the lid; he raised it as Ziva walked into the room.

"What is that?" she asked.

"Important papers; I read over the marriage license application that I filled out and printed last night and we need to have two forms of ID each," he shuffled through the stack of documents. "Aha!" he placed several items to one side. Ziva moved next to him as he found what he needed.

He went through a mental check list out loud, "Tali's passport; my passport; my driver's license from Virginia; my birth certificate; your driver's license from Virginia; your passport; your birth certificate." He smiled a smile of accomplishment.

"You have everything?" she was amazed at just how prepared he was with the documents.

"Orli gave me some; plus the deposit box at the bank in Israel had both birth certificates," he explained. "I've had your driver's license since 2013; had your NCIS credentials with me when I found you, but I had to turn them back in to Vance."

Ziva felt the tears forming, "You never gave up on me, did you?" She put her hand on his face, "Toda raba, neshama sheli. Ani ohevet otach." Her tears spilled down her face as she brushed her lips on his.

"Hey, don't cry," he wiped her tears with his thumbs. "I always knew you'd come home someday. After all, you gave me the promise with your Magen David…" his own tears threatened to spill out of his eyes as he spoke. "Ani ohev otcha, Ziva."

She locked gazes with him, the man who completed her, the man with whom she planned to spend the rest of her life. "We have always had each other's back; we are a team."

"We will ALWAYS be a team; you and me and our little family, Zi. I wouldn't have it any other way. You are my forever, Ziva. Always and forever…"

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**A/N Thanks to all who read, followed, faved, and/or reviewed. Glad you like and enjoy my TIVA "You Complete Me" universe; more to come!**

** For the initial meeting of Ziva and Tony in this universe see "Chocolate Pools and Crazy Curls."**

**For the story behind the rings they use for their wedding see "Inevitable."**

**For the proposal on Christmas Eve and the doctor appointments see Chapters 8 and 9 of the mother ship "You Complete Me." **

**There is also a chapter for Christmas 2016 in "A Lifetime of Christmases."**

**For the TIVA wedding in Reno see "A Very TIVA Wedding."**

**For the birth of the second DiNozzo baby (Anthony III) see Chapter 4 of "D Is For DiNozzo."**


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